Visionary Kiss I & II & III

Visionary Kiss I Part Fou Imh Imhotep stood in a dark corner of the large hall that was located in the wing of the palace where Anck-su-namun had her accommodations. He knew that soon his love would send Isetnofret to get her almond milk. He had to smile at the memory. She would drink the almond milk whenever they had been together. She had once told him that, after their loving, she needed something just as sweet to make her go to sleep.

He was, however, still angry about the incident earlier. He had waited until he was sure that the slave had left the room, and then asked Anck-su-namun why she had done it. She had said something about a lesson. The only reason for this lesson could have been her crazy idea that her slave was interested in him, but never had he thought about her in a sexual way until this afternoon.

He knew that his dear was still unsure of his love for her, but over the past weeks, he had shown her in every possible way how much he loved her. The only thing left, was to die for her.

Again, he could see Isetnofret as she walked from her place of hiding, through the room to the door; a picture both impressive and defiant. Lust and need had been in her eyes; lust for him. Not that she was the first woman who had looked at him that way, but there had been more than that, and he wanted to know why she felt sorry for him.

She was the one with no rights, nothing she could call her own, not even her body, and this woman had the nerve to look at him with pity in her eyes. Again, he looked over to the other end of the hall to see if she had finally arrived, but still there was no sign of her.

He was the High Priest of Osiris and Keeper of the Dead, the most powerful person after the Pharaoh himself. He had wealth, was healthy, and the woman he
loved was his, at least in her heart.

Again, he felt the burning in his heart that made him twist his face in agony. She would never be his; she was the concubine of the Pharaoh, to be untouched by any man but him. He had fallen in love with her, and he had broken rules by doing so.

He had betrayed the Pharaoh, his god on earth, and his oath.

"Master Imhotep?" he heard a voice full of worry.

"Isetnofret, I waited for you. Let's go into the garden, so we can talk," he said, already reaching out to take hold of her arm. She took a quick step back and, for the first time, he noticed the tray she held with a goblet on it.

"I must first bring my mistress her milk, so she can take her afternoon nap, but I will come into the garden as soon as she no longer needs me." And with this, Willow walked away, careful to not spill the milk.

Shaking his head, unused to slaves who didn't follow his order, he again came to the conclusion that Isetnofret was special in a way he did not yet know.


He stepped out into the one of the many gardens. Ten minutes later, Willow walked down the walk, past shady palms, refreshing fountains, and inviting stone benches, in search of the one on which Imhotep sat, waiting for her.

"Isis, my Mother, could this be the chance to save him? To save us all? Wish me luck, my Goddess," she whispered, full of hope, fighting the fear that was also there, waiting for its chance to come to the surface.

"Master, I am here," she said, stopping herself from touching his shoulder as she stood behind him.

"Good. Now sit down beside me so we can talk." He watched as the slave wearing the usual white linen clothes that did nothing to hide her advantages, took the seat beside him.

"Listen to me, Isetnofret. I had no idea that you were in the room earlier, and I hope you know that if you told anyone about what you have seen, your mistress and I would punished with death."

"Yes, Master, I know that, and you can be sure that I will not tell anyone about it," she interrupted him, looking deeply into the dark pools of his eyes, trying to make him see that her words were true. Willow knew that he did not have to ask for her silence. She was only a slave. If he had the feeling that she was not trustworthy, he could have just killed her, or sent someone else to do it.

"Thank you, in the name of your mistress, and in my name." He wanted to ask her so many things. He wanted to ask her who she was, as he was sure that this woman was not the slave he knew. But just as he was ready to ask the question, he saw the red mark over her left eye, and the swelling which bore the imprint of a ring he knew only too well.

"Why has she hit you?" he asked. The man he was, he had never seen a reason to hurt a slave, but he was sure that his love would have had a good reason to do
it, and he wanted to know that reason.

"It is nothing, Master. It was my fault," Willow said. She was not sure where this talk was leading, but there were things she needed to say, and this might be her only chance.

"Tell me," he demanded, with a hardened voice.

"The milk was cold when I brought it to her," she whispered.

Imhotep could not believe it. This could only be a lie. But another look into the green depths of her eyes bared her whole soul to him, and he could see that it was the truth. Reaching out with his hand, he began to whisper one of the first spells he had learned as a priest. It was an easy healing spell that was nothing special, however, it would be enough to heal the small injury.

That had been one of the reasons he had become the High Priest of Osiris. He had learned that his body held magic in it, which made him one of the best healers in the kingdom. Willow's skin began tickling, and she could taste the magic on her tongue. It was like dark honey, sweet, yet a little bitter.

Instinctively, she lifted her hand and placed it over the fingers that covered her eye without really touching the wound, and uninglingly, opened a link to her memories. Imhotep was at first confused by the pictures he could see, and emotions he could feel, but then he understood what was happening, and concentrated, using this possibility to learn all he could about her.

***

There is a little girl with blood-red curls, who could only be her, in a lake. She is not alone. Two dark-haired boys, not much older than herself, play in the water with her, and there is only laughter and joy. The boys always seemed to team-up on her, but she is a clever little thing, and can swim better than they.

Then he sees Isetnofret in a place with many stones.

It is dark, and she is not alone. She is younger than he knows her now, but still it's the same person. Her clothes are different, in both style and color, and her hair is blood red. The whole world he sees is not the world he knows.

She is talking to a blonde girl; he can feel the friendship between them. Then there are other people, men. Fear is now the only emotion. It seems that these men are some type of underworld monsters that want to kill the girls. The blonde girl fights them, though she is unable to stop one of the beasts from biting her friend in the neck. The blonde then puts something into their chest. They explode into dust, and the feeling of fear stops as the image changes.

There is another girl. They are naked and in bed together. She has big eyell oll of trust and longing. They are making love. The feeling coming over the link is love, so much love that it hurts, and then there is pain as he sees the same girl in her arms, blood all over them. The eyes of the girl are blank and dead.

The pain changes into rage, and now Isetnofret herself has changed. She no longer has green eyes and red hair. Now there is only black. Her eyes, her hair, black veins are all over her face, showing that her heart is dead and also black, like her soul.

And again she changes, this time into the woman he knows, except for her clothes. The pain is back and she is crying, broken. She is on the floor in a room that is dark, and she is alone...

***

As soon as the wound was healed, the magic flow stopped and the link was broken. For Willow it had never happened, she had not noticed the link, too bound by the unknown magic and the feelings it produced. So she was more than surprised by his next question.

"Who are you?" he asked, the fear and consternation soon overpowered by anger.

"I am Isetnofret, Master Imhotep," she answered, confused.

"Who sent you? You come from a different land, perhaps even a different time," he said, angry at her for trying to fool him.

"I will tell you everything, but you must to listen to me," Willow responded. At his nod, she gathered all her courage and began to speak, in the hope that this would help convince him to stop his relationship with Anck-su-namun. She would lov kno know what had betrayed her disguise as the slave girl, Isetnofret.

"I am Willow Rosenberg, daughter of Ira and Sheila Rosenberg, born in the year 1980. 3270 years from this time, if I have calculated correctly. I was sent here by the Goddess Isis to stop your relationship with Anck-su-namun. You love her, but she is not worthy of your love, and this will bring you pain, and many people will die. I don't know how much I can tell you about it. I don't know everything, only the parts my Goddess permitted..."

First she could see the shock on his face, and then the pure, raw anger a moment later. When he opened his mouth, the contempt was clearly heard.

"You think I would believe these lies? Isis is the Goddess of love, and there is no doubt that the love between me and Anck-su-namun is foretold, so you can stop these senseless lies. I should have listened to her when she told me that you would do anything to destroy what we have. But it will not work. And you will get no chance to talk to the Pharaoh," he said, nodding to one of the several priests who always followed him.

Willow was grabbed by two of them, one taking each arm. There was no way to flee, and she made one last attempt to talk to him.

"Please, listen to me! This will end in your death, and not only that..." she was silenced by Imhotep himself, as he moved quickly before her and, without much effort, pushed a cloth that he had ripped from his coat into her mouth.

"I will think about what to have done with you. Be lucky that I don't want to kill you." He turned to one of the men holding her, "Take her into one of the chambers in the temple. Give her water, but don't speak to her."

More carrying her than letting her walk, the two priests took her to the next exit, and she could only make one last attempt to look at Imhotep, but he was already gone.

Knowing that this would be the last time she saw him alive and well, bitter tears formed in her eyes. She stopped her defense, giving in, and welcoming her destiny to a chamber where she could call up to her Mother and tell her how horribly she had failed both her and Imhotep.

"Mother, I'm a fool. Your trust in me is wrong. I had a chance to stop all this, and somehow made a mistake. He knew that I was not the one I seem to be." Willow fell to her knees on a mat made out of palm leaves and broke down, tears spilling over her cheeks.

**My child, I told you before that this might not be the time for you to change things. But you needed to be here, to see who he is, to know who he was, when you next have a chance.**

"When will it happen?" the witch asked, looking down at her fingers.

**Tonight, my Child, and then the journey will go on. So sleep, and dream well, my Child.**

The golden glow that was the Goddess went out, and Willow looked up to the small window that was out of reach, but big enough that she could see the sky. She
waited for the night to come; the night in which her horrible vision would come true.

"Forgive me, Imhotep, for not being able to stop this!"

End Visionary Kiss I Part Four